Evaluation of gene expression between CD44+ and CD44- cells in colonospheres

To identify genes that are differentially expressed between CD44+ and CD44- cells in colonospheres, we have employed whole genome microarray expression profiling as a discovery platform. Colonospheres from four colon cancer patients were sorted into CD44+ and CD44- cells using the FACS Aria II Cell Sorter, and total RNA extracted from the cells were labeled with Cy3 and used for microarray analyses with Agilent Whole Human Genome Oligo Microarrays. Gene expression in fluorescence-activated cell-sorted CD44+ and CD44- cells derived from four colon cancer patients was measured.